Americans are feeling mostly good about their finances, according to data recently published by analytics firm Gallup. At the start of 2019, in fact, their optimism “reached levels not seen in more than 16 years,” Gallup found. Nearly 70% expected to be financially better off in a year. About 56% describe their current financial situation […]

By Ryan Johnson With the first day of summer just around the corner, millions of Americans are flocking to the beach. In addition to being a family-friendly source of outdoor recreation, our beaches contribute billions of dollars to local economies across the country. In Florida alone, tourists spent an estimated $2 billion dollars from 2012 […]

By Ryan Johnson As the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County gets ready to rev up its test of autonomous vehicles at Texas Southern University, a question looms over the commercial real estate sector in Houston: How much change will be driven by the no-driver trend, particularly as it relates to parking? In an interview […]

By Christopher Thompson A handful of ceremonies and remembrances are planned around the Valley. Check out the list below to see some things you can do to support remembrance and the celebration of life. Gilbert Historical Society’s Memorial Day Ceremony (May 27) Hosted by the Gilbert Historical Society and the American Legion Post 39, the […]

By Christopher Thompson Single-use plastic is clogging oceans and landfills. The industry that makes it has waged a decades-long campaign to keep it on the market.New York’s Suffolk County had a trash problem. Facing brimming landfills and public pressure, legislators took a first-in-the-nation step: They banned plastic bags. But what the county saw as part […]

By Ryan Johnson The Trump administration hasn’t ruled out increasing the gas tax to help finance a $2 trillion infrastructure plan, but the idea has little support among officials who are wary of a politically risky move heading into the 2020 election. A near doubling of fuel levies wouldn’t be enough to cover the additional […]

By Ryan Johnson It’s impossible to imagine modern life without plastics. From the moment the day begins, we are using plastic. It’s in our toothbrushes, our shower curtains and our phones. We use it on the way to work in bus seats, car dashboards, and bicycle helmets. We see it at lunch in takeout containers […]

By Christopher Thompson Air pollution could affect “every organ” in the human body, a major global review has warned. Pollution is known to be harmful to the lungs and airways but a growing volume of research suggests it damages the whole body. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says nine out of 10 people globally breathe […]

By Ryan Johnson A Hawaii airport has opened a $340-million facility for car rental companies, officials said. The Kahului Airport Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility is the largest single public works project on Maui, The Maui News reported Wednesday. The facility that opened Wednesday houses all major rental car companies in one spot and connects passengers with […]

Plastic is kind of like a Twitter reply guy: It never goes away. And there’s more coming in. Each year, 8 million metric tons of plastic go into the ocean (that’s equal to about one garbage truck per minute), according to a 2016 report by the World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey […]